Icon to be RETIRED after less than 1 year?

Switch to AT&T if you can. They actually embrace it. I did and my new 1520 has Cyan and works very well.

If AT&T had the Icon (or a similar phone), I would consider it. I like the 1520, but it's too big for my taste, I had a phablet and I thought it was way to big. The 1020 is also a really nice phone, but a bit too small. My "Goldilocks" zone is the Icon. It has the perfect screen size for my taste, with all of the supporting hardware.

Find a 930 that will work on T-Mo or AT&T and get that then. Its the same phone except for Verizon's BS.

Originally Posted by gernerttl

If AT&T had the Icon (or a similar phone), I would consider it. I like the 1520, but it's too big for my taste, I had a phablet and I thought it was way to big. The 1020 is also a really nice phone, but a bit too small. My "Goldilocks" zone is the Icon. It has the perfect screen size for my taste, with all of the supporting hardware.

I just got off the phone with Verizon Tech Support. The guy was very friendly and answered my questions, best he could:

Has the Nokia Lumia Icon been retired? Answer: Yes, it has.

Once a device has been retired, does it still receive updates? Answer: Yes, it does. In fact 60+% of our customers are rolling around with devices that have been retired. We still support them and provide updates to the phones.

Can you confirm that the Icon will still be getting the Windows Phone 8.1 update, the one with Cortana? Answer: (He went and pulled up an internal VZW Support Forum) Yes, there was a recent post this month from a moderator that indicates the 8.1 update is still in testing, but scheduled to begin rolling out by the end of October. (He then freely admitted that we are running out of days left in Oct. so, it might very well spill over into Nov.) He could not provide a specific release date, as once the update releases, it will roll out to so many phones at a time per some specfic ID.

Anyway, I am a little less disappointed about the retired news after this call and a little more hopeful about us all getting the Windows Phone 8.1 release.

I think its worse than that actually. It doesn't get any connectivity at all, but if it were to connect via LTE Verizon would have to permit it to make calls via VoLTE. I think they currently have that ability filtered to a specific set of phones. Obviously if its not one of their phones, they aren't going to add it to the list.

Originally Posted by DavidinCT

Even if you could get the LTE bands working on Verizon, you would hate it, as Verizon's awesome coverage depends on it's old 3G network that needs CDMA support.

As the 1520 does not have the CDMA bands on it, your coverage would be worse than Sprint or TMO in a bad area if you travel (drive in and out of LTE coverage).

Unless your lucky enough to have 100% LTE coverage where you go (I get LTE at home and work but, during my commute, many areas do not have LTE yet)

As great as having that phone on Verizon is, the experience would not be worth getting it...

With the recent FCC filing showing a Lumia 735 looking to be headed to Verizon I have a new theory on the "retiring". I think Verizon is planning to sell the Lumia 735 at a contract price of $99... which is what the Lumia Icon is being sold at right now. Considering that the Lumia Icon is superior to the Lumia 735 in almost every way (with the exception of the front-facing camera being 5MP vs. Icon's 1.2MP), Verizon would be stupid to try selling them both at the same price. I think this is an attempt to improve sales of the 735 at an inflated starting price of $99 on contract. Then once the excitement settles, they will decrease the 735 price to free and bring back the Lumia Icon for the price of $99... or not bring it back at all. Just a theory, and frustrating considering a phone at the quality of the 735 should probably be free on contract from the start. This might explain why few/no Verizon associates know what is going on, as this would need to be kept secret since before recently no one knew that Verizon would be getting the 735. Somewhat of a conspiratorial theory, but it seems reasonable for Verizon to do this.

You would have to be crazy to pay money for a 735 on contract. If you are going to pay money on contract it has to be the flagship. Paying for $100 off contract on the other hand is fine as you should be able to save money in the long run by not having a contract.

No. I am saying that the 930 won't work with US LTE Bands, just GSM and HSPA+ and therefore, is not a good enough reason for me to switch. The 1520.3 works on US as well as overseas LTE bands, but it is too big for me so, again, not a good enough reason to switch.

The 1520.3 doesn't have CDMA and therefore will not work on Verizon's 3G network. Even IF it did have CDMA, it wouldn't work on Verizon's 3G network. I would need Verizon's CDMA key to work; which is part of the firmware and not the OS.